Jumping Off the #Jaws Bridge! Visiting #MarthasVineyard #Edgartown #OakBluffs #CapeCod

My younger son in mid-jump off the "Jaws Bridge" on MV.
Beneath him landing in the water is my nephew.

Living on Cape Cod, we always have busy summers filled with visitors.  This August, we had back-to-back guests for two weeks--our best friends, and then my brother and sister and their families.  I've done posts in the past on some of our favorite places to visit with guests, but we also always try to fit in one or two new things.  Yesterday, we finally got my sister and her young kids to Martha's Vineyard, which has never worked out in the past due to the age of her children and the logistics of getting everyone onto a ferry on time to head over to this beautiful island off the Cape.

In addition to just wanting to see the Vineyard, my sister loves scary movies like I do, in particular, the movie Jaws, which made my list of scariest movies and books (here).  She is fascinated by sharks in general.  Since Martha's Vineyard was the site where this 1975 movie was filmed, it was especially important to see the sites.  A few years ago, we'd been over to see some of the towns in the movie with friends, but we'd never been on an actual Jaws-themed tour, so this time, I arranged it, complete with a small private bus for all 11 of us.  Martha's Vineyard Tours and Excursions was the company that ended up taking us on the tour, and I highly recommend them.  They are the #1 tour company on Trip Advisor, and they rescued us when the tour we originally booked in advance (with a different company) literally cancelled on us last minute.  I have to give them a shout-out, as we had 11 people, including a toddler, assembled for a scheduled private tour, and they came in and accommodated us last minute.

Menemsha, the fishing village from which Quint's
boat the Orca left to find Jaws.

The two-hour tour included a lot of interesting information about the island in addition to scenes from Jaws.  We saw Sheriff Brody's house in East Chop in Oak Bluffs, Quint's Shack in Menemsha in Chilmark, and Edgartown, which basically served as the fictional town of Amity Island (which is actually supposed to be off Long Island, NY, at least in the novel).


We basically circled the island, making our way back toward Oak Bluffs (and the ferry terminal) along Beach Road and Syliva State Beach, which was where many of the beach scenes--and shark attacks--were filmed.  The most famous landmark there is the "Jaws Bridge", which carries traffic over the channel separating the Atlantic from Sengekontacket Pond--the pond in which a particularly gruesome death takes place, when the Great White shark severs the leg of a sailing instructor as a group of young boys huddle on a sailboat.  The actual name of the bridge is the American Legion Memorial Bridge, also known as the "Big Bridge" by locals.  But its fame from the movie has led to a time-honored tradition that involves climbing over the railing and plunging 15 to 20 feet into the waters below.

I can only assume this was a small crowd for
this spot, considering it's now late August and
tourist season is winding down.

One of the best things about this, aside from the cinematic history and the adrenaline rush, is the sign prohibiting jumping or diving off the bridge, posted in front of a huge crowd of people of all ages doing exactly that.  

It's a rite of passage around here, and a bucket-list item for many New Englanders.  We had little time to spend there, but we got it done!  

In the future, I'd love to just spend a day there, alongside the rock jetties, and watch everyone have fun jumping and diving in.  Although we live on Cape Cod, spending the day on one of these islands feels like being in another world!  I set most of my novels on the Cape, but one day I'd love to write a story set on Martha's Vineyard or Nantucket...maybe I could figure out a way to stay for a few weeks in the name of research?

Back to entertaining the family...thanks for stopping by!  

My younger son taking flight as one of his cousins plunges
in, and another younger one looks on.